I remember a time when New Year’s Eve meant trying to figure out if I was going to have a party or where I was going to celebrate. Over the years, I stayed home more often, perhaps inviting a few couples over for dinner. As midnight came closer,...

Public mercy seems to be in short supply even though actor Mark Wahlberg, 43, meets the requirements of a Massachusetts’ governor’s pardon: no risk of reoffending, and having made extraordinary contributions to society.

An Indonesian helicopter searching for the missing AirAsia jetliner saw two oily spots in the water Monday, and an Australian search plane spotted objects elsewhere in the Java Sea, but it was too early to know whether either was connected to the...

This year showed how sheltered the U.S. economy is from geopolitical and health crises around the world. The global economy sputtered, but the U.S. powered ahead. Employers are finally hiring enough to lower unemployment. A plunge in gas prices and...